Serengeti National Park

A once in a lifetime experience

We assembled a 14 day trip to Tanzania through a wildlife photographer and Essential Africa as the tour operator. Our group was 6 photographers plus our local guide Ally and Karine Aigner (photographer) for the entire trip. Given their experience they set up 4 days in the southern Serengeti and then 8 more in the northern Serengeti at a total of 3 different camps. The flat plains of the south was very different from rolling hills of the north and the Mara River. Generally there is more wildlife in the south during February than in the north but we certainly did not lack in sighting in the north and in one area near the Kenya border we witnessed a herd of several thousand animals. The limitations of the Serengeti National Park are that you must stay on the trail with your vehicle so we spent much of our time in the Ngorongoro Preserve to permit off road adventures. The advantage to this was also minimizing contacts with other vehicles and the disruption multiple vehicles have to the wildlife. In the northern camps we saw no more than 3-4 other vehicles each day in comparison to the south where you can have a dozen vehicles around a leopard sighting. We always left at 6 am and stayed out until the park closing at 6:30pm with a short stop back at the camp near lunch unless we were traveling a good distance and then we brought along lunch with us. Our first camp was a tent camp and once you get used to the bucket showers it was really quite comfortable. The northern camps were permanent camps, had superb accommodations and all three had excellent service and food. Weather was generally excellent with rain only as a short part of two days. The bush plane flights between camps were an added adventure that was a blast but a little tight on space if you are large. All members of our party totally enjoyed the adventure and other than short bouts with tse tse flies there were really no complaints at all. In terms of wildlife we had a huge number of sightings and saw most major species with the exception of rhinos (OK we saw one about a mile away) and many opportunities to photogragh all of the large cats from very close up. Hard to ask for more than that. Simply put it was a fabulous trip that was superbly planned and run.

Absolutely amazing, fascinating, beautiful and awe inspiring.

We felt that every aspect of our safari was wonderful. With hindsight we would have flown direct to the Serengeti and not driven from Arusha. Our accommodation was great and our guide (Cyprian Joseph with Ranger Safaris) was knowledgeable and friendly.
We would thoroughly recommend the Serengeti as a safari destination.

can't believe the experience of the animals in the wild

Dont miss any game drives on your safari as you Will always see and experience New Animal sightings,Private tour over group tour everytime,weather in september was clear and cool after the sun went down,Lions very cooperative as they would lay down right next to the roads for great photos

Must visit at least once in a lifetime!

The Serengeti eco system which spans Tanzania and Kenya, is one of the two large national parks in East Africa (Tsavo being the other). All the major game animals are in abundance - elephants, lions, cheetahs, leopards, buffalos, rhinos, hyenas, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, wildebeests, and a wide variety of other antelopes, as well as many different kinds of birds and lizards. Rhinos are probably the hardest to find, as their numbers have dwindled alarmingly.

Brings you closer to the Almightys creations and leaves you mesmerised in the beauty of nature

serengetti is an unforgettable experience
we visited it with our kids and were mesmerised by parks beauty its abundance of wildlife and its diverse ecosystem..
some of the highlights of our trip
saw a pride of 15 lions.. lioness and cubs roaming in their natural habitat like kings .. they walked towards our vehicle, we were holding our breaths tight, and then crossee the road in front of us absolutely unfazed by our presence as if we hardly matter to them.
we saw a cheetah pounce on a dear and then as we went near him we saw him feast on his catch
we saw millions of wild beasts and zebras and gazelles .. the landscape dotted with them .. from the small hill (near the entrance gate) we can see the whole landscape dotted with these amazing animals.. we even saw herds of zebras roaming around a group of lions as lions were resting after they had devoured on a wildbeast.
saw leopards resting on tree branches and giraffes roaming aroung carefree .. we got so near to giraffes that we could literally touch them.
over all .. if someone wants to go on a safari and see animals from close by in their natural habitat living their normal lives serengetti should be their first choice
its absolutely magical and no one will ever forget the experience.

The migration on the Serengeti's vast plains is sight to behold.

The Serengeti was one of the highlights on the northern circuit of Tanzania during my first safari in 2004. I have been on five other safaris in Africa since! The weather in December was perfect. The Serengeti afforded me my first ever close encounter with a lion on a kill. The open hatch on the Land Rover allowed for good photography without feeling exposed. The food at Serengeti Sopa Lodge was superb as it was at of the lodges along the northern circuit. A visit to a Masaai village on the way to the park was special. If you visit the Serengeti, you won't be disappointed and will more than likely catch the safari bug as I have. For African safari pictures and articles go to www.DaveGibsonImages.com.

I had read that November was not the best time to visit most parks in Tanzania but was pleasantly surprised. I saw pretty much every animal i had been told I could see at this park in reasonable numbers. The weather was dry and sunny with a cool breeze during drives. The guide was amazing, the staff at the company Sandland Tours were an example in superuior customer service even in the most basic conditions and I wished I could be on safari forever.

Amazing Experiance

I spend 3 Days in Serengeti to discover the Wildlife. It's amazing, so see this animals that close. We had a great driver and he explane all the things happen in de Serengeti. We truly can recommend the Serengeti as one of the best Destination for Safari.

Beautiful Park

The wildlife in this park is plentiful from the time we entered into the gate. The weather was hot and dry with no rain. The scenery was stunning and the accommodations we had were excellent. Going through the gate can take a little bit of time, but it gave us time to get out and stretch out legs from the drive and just enjoy being there. We saw many lions, we lost track of the count. It is like someone placed me in a storybook. I would surely revisit it all over again.

Great variety of wildlife! I have visited this park on two occasions.